Please use my new website
All lessons from this blog and more are available there
In this lesson we will learn pronunciation of alphabets in Marathi
Friends, In the beginning we will write Marathi in English script. So as to enable you to read it, we will decide some conventions for it.
Go through it once. You may not remember all pronunciation now. But as and when you will use it in sentence, come back to these rule and check it. After few days you will remember it automatically.
Also I have mentioned Devanagari symbols. So later when we will start using Devanagari. you can refer this chart to get the sound for each symbol.
Vowels
Lets start studying Marathi vowels. In Marathi, vowels are added to consonants. Most of them are easy to pronounce, ऋ is slightly challenging. Marathi vowels retain much of their original Sanskrit pronunciation making some of them different from their Hindi counterparts. A notable example is औ (au), pronounced as owl in Marathi but as Oxford in Hindi. ऑ (Ao) is a special vowel used for loan English words, and
is pronounced as in doctor.
is pronounced as in doctor.
Devanagari
|
Transliteration used here
|
Examples
|
अ
|
a
|
as in allow
|
आ
|
A
|
as in hard
|
इ
|
i
|
as in hit
|
ई
|
I
|
as in mean
|
उ
|
u
|
as in put
|
ऊ
|
U
|
as in hoot
|
ए
|
e
|
as in main
|
ऐ
|
ai
|
as in fight
|
ओ
|
o
|
as in Oh my God
|
औ
|
au
|
as in owl
|
अं
|
aM
|
as sound of "um" in number, sound of
"um" as in jum
|
अः
|
aH
|
as “uh” in huh?
|
अॅ
|
~a
|
as in “bat”
|
ऑ
|
~o
|
as in O in
|
ऋ
|
Ru
|
as “ru” in ruby;“roo” in “roof”
|
Listen pronunciation of vowels online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP5XVBjkgQg
or
https://soundcloud.com/kaushik-lele/pronunciation-of-vowels-in-marathi-learn-marathi
Pronunciation of ऋ(Ru) is different in Hindi and Marathi.
In Hindi ऋ(Ru) is pronounced as रि(ri). Where as in Marathi sound is similar to रु (ru).
Listen pronunciation of ऋ Ru
https://soundcloud.com/kaushik-lele/pronunciation-of-ru-learn-marathi
Consonants
Now lets us learn consonants in Marathi. Many Marathi consonants come in three different forms: aspirated, unaspirated and retroflex.
Aspiration means with a puff of air, and is the difference between the sound of the letter p in English pin (aspirated) and spit (unaspirated). Retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.
Devanagari
|
Transliteration
|
Equivalent/Comments
|
क
|
k
|
as in skip.
|
ख
|
kh
|
as in
sinkhole.
|
ग
|
g
|
as in go.
|
घ
|
gh
|
as in
doghouse.
|
ङ
|
G
|
as in
sing. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently.
|
च
|
ch
|
as in church.
|
छ
|
Ch
|
as in
pinchhit.
|
ज
|
j
|
as in jump.
|
झ
|
jh
|
as in
dodge her.
|
ञ
|
nY
|
as in
canyon. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur
independently.
|
ट
|
T
|
as in tick. Retroflex, but still a
hard t sound similar to English.
|
ठ
|
Th
|
as in
lighthouse. Retroflex
|
ड
|
D
|
as in doom. Retroflex
|
ढ
|
Dh
|
as in
mudhut. Retroflex
|
ण
|
N
|
retroflex n, as in grand.
|
त
|
t
|
does
not exist in English. more dental t,
with a bit of a th sound. Softer than an English t.
|
थ
|
th
|
aspirated
version of the previous letter, not as in thanks or the.
|
द
|
d
|
dental d.
|
ध
|
dh
|
aspirated
version of the above d.
|
न
|
n
|
n in man, pan
|
प
|
p
|
as in spin.
|
फ
|
ph
|
as in uphill.
|
ब
|
b
|
as in be.
|
भ
|
bh
|
as in abhor.
|
म
|
m
|
as in mere.
|
य
|
y
|
as in yet.
|
र
|
r
|
r in rat
|
ल
|
l
|
as in lean.
|
व
|
v
|
as in
Spanish vaca, between
English v and w, but without the lip
rounding of an English w.
|
श
|
sh
|
as in shoot.
|
ष
|
Sh
|
almost
indistinguishable retroflex of the above. slightly more aspirated.
|
स
|
s
|
as in see.
|
ह
|
h
|
as in him.
|
ळ
|
L
|
as in
Norwegian farlig. Retroflex lateral approximent
|
क्ष
|
kSh
|
As in k
+ sh
|
ज्ञ
|
dny
|
Pronounced
as d + n + y
|
Listen pronunciation of Consonants at
There are two sounds for symbols च(ch) ज(j) झ (jh) listen them at
or
https://soundcloud.com/kaushik-lele/difference-in-pronunciation-of-sh-and-sh-learn-marathi
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WYaMkcSIxM
Listen pronunciation of ळ(L) at
or
Pronunciation of ज्ञ(dny) is different in Hindi and Marathi. Listen this difference at
or
wonderful blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks.I would like to hear more from you. Please mail me on learnmarathifast@gmail.com
DeleteThank you for your effort!
ReplyDeleteLinguistics is my hobby, and I have had a desire for a long time to "bite" one of modern Indo-Aryan languages. I thought about Hindi or Punjabi, but incidentally got inspired by Marathi. Surprisingly there is almost nothing on Marathi. I mean not some word lists or standard phrases for tourists. Your blog is really valuable.
LangLover
I am a bit confused with the rule 2 in your lesson above:
>>‘n’ in English word “much”<<
Is this a typo?
Thanks a lot for appreciation.
DeleteAnd thanks for bringing mistake to my notice. I have updated it. It should be "munch".
Would you mind sending me a mail on learnmarathifast@gmail.com
I generally send update to "students" of my blog whenever I add new lesson. Also knowing about your mother tongue and motivation to learn Marathi will also be interesting.
- Kaushik
Yes, I'll write, just give me some short time.
DeleteHi did you send me the mail ? Your name is not mentioned here so don't know if one of the mails which I received is one from you.
Delete- Kaushik
Hi Kaushik, thanks for the work in your blog. I noticed that one of the new swar, representing the sound in the English "bat" is missing, though you have incorporated that for "ball". http://www.omniglot.com/writing/marathi.htm
ReplyDeleteCould you add that?
Hi Ranajeet, good catch,. I added row for "अॅ" in the table. Thanks.
DeleteWould you mind sending me a mail on learnmarathifast@gmail.com
I would like to more from your experience with this blog.
thanks. it helps me alot.
ReplyDeleteWelcome. May I know your name please. Also I would be happy if you could share more detailed feedback to me on learnmarathifast@gmail.com
ReplyDeletedear kaushik
ReplyDeletefantastic job yar , i am from kerala now ,would like to learn marathi ,its nice to see your blogs
any how its really helping me to learn marathi
and i will give you a big salute !! fantabolous JOB
Rakesh nair
Hi Rakesh,
DeleteThanks for your appreciation and all the best for your learning.
What motivated you to learn Marathi ? you can mail me on learnmarathifast@gmail.com
Hi Kaushik Lele,
ReplyDeleteFirst, THANK YOU for your blog. It's awesome for me. I'm french, and I decide to learn Marathi because I love so much Swami Samarth Ramdas's Dasbodh. THE KING BOOK for me. I do read this book everyday. But, all books of Swami S.Ramdas is not translate in english, and many saints spoken in Marathi. I think to Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ranjit Maharaj, Shiddharameshwar Maharaj. The good news for me it's that Marathi langage has a pronounciation for vowels very easy for a french native speaker.
Good continuation !
Anthony.
You are welcome Anthony !! Thanks for detailed comment. You reason to learn Marathi is really interesting. I will like to know more about your Marathi learning through mail.
DeleteCan you please mail me at learnmarathifast@gmail.com
Waiting for your reply,
Kaushik
Hello,
DeleteThanks Kaushik ! No problem, we can share that together. My mail is anthony.klopffer@gmail.com for information. Like that, you know that it's me in your box mails. .
Here, I learn Devanagari, it's gymnastic for my brain to jump of roman letter to Devanagari and to write. I has studied a few sanskrit, I am surprised of few difference in prononciation between Marathi and Sanskrit. I learn sanskrit because I thought that S.Ramdas's Karunshtake was in sanskrit but in analysing the form of letters I sought my mistake.
Have a good day, Kaushik !
Anthony.
Thank you so much. I used to speak Marathi more than 40 years ago, but I have lost touch. Your lessons are so good, they help a lot. As you pointed out, I have problems with the sounds of cha and ja. I saw one lesson with the possessive forms which explains this, but it would be good to see a list of very common words with these sounds and learn how to pronounce each. If we could use a modified translation in writing the sound in English, it would be even better. For example cha and cha'.
ReplyDeleteVanakkam KannanJi,
DeleteIt was nice to read your comment. You have given a nice suggestion of two symbols (cha and cha'). But looks like it is almost difficult to change all blog lessons to specify the transliteration in this way.
But I have provided YouTube video fir every lesson so a learners should be able to listen correct pronunciation.
I would like to know more about your Marathi learning and feedback about my blog. Can you please mail me at learnmarathifast@gmail.com
Thanks,
Kaushik
Hello kaushik jee, can you please tell me what is the meaning of zaali in marathi?
ReplyDeletezaali = became
DeleteMay I know your name plz. Are you learning Marathi through my blog ?
- Kaushik
Hello Kaushik, I have a query. the letter अ is omitted in a word. But is it pronounced? ex., in a verb to do. Could you, please, explain little in details. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteI could not clearly understand your question."letter अ is omitted in a word. But is it pronounced". Can you plz elaborate.
May I know your name plz. Are you learning Marathi using my blog ?
You are welcome. Credit goes to Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteMay I know your name plz. Are you learning Marathi using my blog ?
Thanks,
Kaushik
I appreciate your work.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your appreciation. Are you learning / planning to learn Marathi using my blog ?
Delete- Kaushik
Amazing blog Kaushik. thanks a lot for putting all this valuable information together
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for appreciation. Are you learning / planning to learn Marathi using my blog ?
Delete- Kaushik
that s very good in learning marathi.but i need to learn more sentence marathi simple present , past and future tense.. help me
ReplyDeleteThere are many lessons with simple sentences and conversation. Refer conversation section on http://learnmarathiwithkaushik.com/
DeletePlease send me an email on learnmarathifast@gmail.com so that we can interact in detail.
Thanks,
Kaushik